Tag: Donald Trump

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Berkeley: Pro-Trump Rally Turns Violent

Via The L.A. Times:

Hundreds of pro-Trump demonstrators and counter-protesters clashed Saturday at a “Patriots Day” rally in Berkeley, the third time the two groups engaged in violent confrontations on city streets in recent months.

Fistfights broke out near Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park, where Trump supporters had scheduled a rally. Fireworks and smoke bombs were thrown into the crowd, and a few demonstrators were doused with pepper spray.

Both groups threw rocks and sticks at each other and used a large trash bin as a battering ram as the crowd moved around the perimeter of the park. One bank boarded up its ATM machines before the rally as a precaution.

Sixteen people were arrested, said Officer Jennifer Coats of the Berkeley Police Department. Nine people were injured, with six taken to a hospital for treatment, including one stabbing victim, she said.

Shane Bauer, senior reporter for Mother Jones, was tweeting from Berkeley most of the day. Check out some of the “action” via Bauer’s Twitter feed:

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Trump Makes His 19th Trip To Golf Course In Less Than 3 Months As President

President Trump

It’s the weekend, which means President Trump is more likely than not on a golf course.

As a matter of fact, Trump has taken 19 trips to a golf course since his inauguration.

Personally, I wouldn’t care about Trump’s golf habit had it not been such a sticking point for the Trumpster to continually criticize President Obama for playing golf during his presidency.

Additionally, Trump spent many a tweet on ranting about Obama’s travel costs to the American taxpayer.

And yet, it’s turning out that Trump is the one running up a hefty travel bill being paid by his constituents.

On top of his many trips to his Florida resort Mar-a-Lago, he’s making money charging the U.S. Secret Service to follow him.

CBS News reports that Trump has invoiced the Secret Service over $35,185 for golf cart rentals so the agents could keep him safe on the golf course. Those are HIS golf carts he’s renting out.

In related news, taxpayers have paid over $190,000 just to provide security for Trump spawns Don Jr. and Eric as they travel the world on business.

#Hypocrisy

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Trump Told Chinese President Of Syrian Bombing Over “The Most Beautiful Piece Of Chocolate Cake”

This is one of the strangest exchange I’ve seen in a while.

President Trump, in an interview with Fox Business News’ Maria Bartiromo, explains how he told Chinese President Xi that he was bombing Syria over “the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake.”

Along the way he mentions that “all of them hit,” meaning the missiles that were fired at Syria, which contradicts reports that 60 missiles were fired and 59 landed.

Also, the use of the phrase “unmanned missiles?” Have you ever seen a “manned missile?”

Trump goes on to brag how we have the best military technology “by a factor of five,” but then talks on how our military is “depleted.”

And then, there’s the odd glee they both seem to have for the details.

Just strange.

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FBI Obtained FISA Warrant To Monitor Trump Advisor Carter Page’s Communications With Russia

Carter Page

From The Washington Post:

The FBI obtained a secret court order last summer to monitor the communications of an adviser to presidential candidate Donald Trump, part of an investigation into possible links between Russia and the campaign, law enforcement and other U.S. officials said.

The FBI and the Justice Department obtained the warrant targeting Carter Page’s communications after convincing a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge that there was probable cause to believe Page was acting as an agent of a foreign power, in this case Russia, according to the officials.

This is the clearest evidence so far that the FBI had reason to believe during the 2016 presidential campaign that a Trump campaign adviser was in touch with Russian agents. Such contacts are now at the center of an investigation into whether the campaign coordinated with the Russian government to swing the election in Trump’s favor.

During the Republican primary season last year, Trump identified Page as a foreign policy adviser to his campaign.

It’s worth noting that a FISA warrant is not a simple thing to obtain. FBI Director James Comes testified that application for FISA warrants are thicker than his wrists, referencing the amount of work that goes into compiling evidence for the warrant.

Much more at the link – I recommend a full read.

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Alt-Right Breaks Up With Donald Trump Over Syrian Bombing

The Alt-Right crowd is breaking up with President Trump over his bombing of Syria last night.

Laura Ingraham, David Duke, Mike Cernovich, InfoWars, and more all shared their deep disappointment in the man who once tweeted 24 times about NOT going in Syria.

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President Trump Orders Military Strike On Syria In Response To Chemical Attack

From CNN:

The United States launched a military strike Thursday on a Syrian government target in response to their chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians earlier in the week.

On President Donald Trump’s orders, US warships launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian government airbase where the warplanes that carried out the chemical attacks were based, US officials said.

The strike is the first direct military action the US has taken against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s six-year civil war and represent a substantial escalation of the US’ military campaign in the region, which could be interpreted by the Syrian government as an act of war.

“Tonight, I ordered a targeted military strike on the air field in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched,” Trump said during short remarks to reporters at Mar-a-Lago, where he ordered the strike just hours earlier. “It is in this vital national security of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.”

He added: “There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and ignored the urging of the UN Security Council. Years of previous attempts at changing Assad’s behavior have all failed and failed very dramatically.”

Trump’s decision marked a dramatic shift in his position on whether the US should take military action against the Syrian President’s regime — which Trump opposed during his campaign for president — and came after the President was visibly and publicly moved by the images of this week’s chemical weapons attack.

In 2013, when Bashar al-Assad killed over 1,400 of his own people with chemical weapons, Trump (as a private citizen) tweeted more than 20 times that President Obama should stay out of Syria.

Watch below from CBS News:

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President Trump Considering Military Action Against Syria

President Trump, who spent years tweeting President Obama to not get involved with Syria, is now telling members of Congress he is considering military action there in light of the recent chemical attack by Syrian President Bashar al Assad on his own citizens which left over 75 dead.

According to reports, Trump is looking to Defense Secretary Mattis for guidance on the possible military action.

From CNN:

US officials tell CNN the Pentagon has long-standing options to strike Syria’s chemical weapons capability and has presented those options to the administration. The sources stressed a decision has not been made.

Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham issued a joint statement Thursday calling for military action, recommending an international coalition “to ground Assad’s air force.”

“We agree with the President that Assad has crossed a line with his latest use of chemical weapons. The message from the United States must be that this will not stand. We must show that no foreign power can or will protect Assad now. He must pay a punitive cost for this horrific attack,” they said.

In 2013, when Assad used chemical weapons on his own people leaving over 1,400 dead, Trump was adamant that the U.S. should not get involved in the civil war there.

Here’s just some of his tweets regarding Syria then. I guess it all looks very different when you’re the president.

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Trump: Susan Rice Committed A Crime – “One Of The Biggest Stories Of Our Time”

Without providing any evidence, President Trump told The New York Times today that former national security adviser Susan Rice committed a crime so heinous, “It is one of the big stories of our time.”

President Trump said on Wednesday that he thought that the former national security adviser Susan E. Rice may have committed a crime by seeking the identities of Trump associates who were swept up in the surveillance of foreign officials by American spy agencies and that other Obama administration officials may also have been involved.

The president provided no evidence to back his claim. Current and former intelligence officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations have said that nothing they have seen led them to believe that Ms. Rice’s actions were unusual or unlawful. When Americans are swept up in surveillance of foreign officials by intelligence agencies, their identities are supposed to be obscured, but they can be revealed for national security reasons, and intelligence officials say it is a regular occurrence.

“I think it’s going to be the biggest story,” Mr. Trump said in an interview in the Oval Office. “It’s such an important story for our country and the world. It is one of the big stories of our time.”

He declined to say if he had personally reviewed new intelligence to bolster his claim but pledged to explain himself “at the right time.”

When asked if Ms. Rice, who has denied leaking the names of Trump associates under surveillance by United States intelligence agencies, had committed a crime, the president said, “Do I think? Yes, I think.”

Ms. Rice has denied any impropriety. In an interview on Tuesday with MSNBC, she said: “The allegation is that somehow the Obama administration officials utilized intelligence for political purposes. That’s absolutely false.”

Mr. Trump, who has a history of promising to produce evidence to back up his unverified claims, and failing to do so, did not make clear what crime he was accusing Ms. Rice of committing. It is legal and not unusual for a national security adviser to request the identities of Americans who are mentioned in intelligence reports provided.

In that Susan Rice, as National Security Adviser, had legal security clearance to the identities of Trumpers who were caught chatting with Russians, it’s hard to see what crime she committed.

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Trump Defends Bill O’Reilly: “I Don’t Think Bill Did Anything Wrong”

President Trump, who knows a bit about being accused of sexual harassment, defended Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly in an interview with The New York Times today.

O’Reilly has come under fire as news emerged that he has settled at least 5 lawsuits alleging sexual harassment to the tune of $13 million.

“I think he’s a person I know well — he is a good person,” said Mr. Trump, who during the interview was surrounded at his desk by a half-dozen of his highest-ranking aides, including the economic adviser Gary Cohn and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, along with Vice President Mike Pence.

“I think he shouldn’t have settled; personally I think he shouldn’t have settled,” said Mr. Trump. “Because you should have taken it all the way. I don’t think Bill did anything wrong.”

At last count, over 20 companies have dropped their advertising on The O’Reilly Factor in light of the allegations.

Not surprising that Trump thinks alleged sexual harassment doesn’t constitute doing “anything wrong.”

As just about everyone in the free world knows, Trump himself has been the subject of multiple claims of sexual harassment. He denied them all.

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House Intel Committee Member: Some Trump Associates Will Go To Prison Over Russian Ties

In an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer this afternoon, House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) said, with no pause, that based on the evidence he has seen some Donald Trump associates will go to prison over their ties to Russia.

BLITZER: You want to elaborate on that give us more? Because that is obviously a very intriguing statement.

CASTRO: I wish I could, but I can’t at this time.

BLITZER: You’re confident that some Trump associates will end up in jail.

CASTRO: If I were betting, yes.

BLITZER: Including some working in the new administration or people who worked or advised the president during the campaign or maybe during the transition?

CASTRO: As you can imagine, Wolf, I will have to comment on that later. But my impression is that people will probably be charged and probably go to jail.

Watch below:

(h/t JoeMyGod)